Tom McCafferty
Explorer
What would be the DC for a silence spell entering the hearing area of a character?
What would be the DC modifier for being asleep?
What would be the DC modifier for being asleep?
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Silence and Sleeping?
- Thread starter Tom McCafferty
- Start date
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
Tom McCafferty said:
IMO, DC=0. Doesn't take much of a listen check to notice the world has suddenly gone silent (though I might require a Spellcraft check or similar to determine that the result was from a spell, rather than from some other undefined effect, like suddenyl going deaf).
Personally, I'd set this around 20 to be sleeping and have it suddenly go silent, and notice.
I usually use a DC 15 listen check for characters to wake up if their is activity in their immediate area (and someone isn't actively trying to wake them), so the +5 DC seems right (though I could see it as high as +10).
Pielorinho
Iron Fist of Pelor
Tom McCafferty said:
I would set the listen check equal to the DC for hearing the loudest noise in the environment. If the loudest noise in the environment would currently require a DC 15 check, the DC to detect the silence spell would also be 15. If the loudest noise in the environment would currently require a DC 0 check, noticing that everything has suddenly gotten very quiet would require a DC 0 check.
If the loudest noise in the environment is intermittent (e.g., snores), then I might bump up the DC by up to 5 -- or I might set the DC equal to the loudest constant noise in the environment (e.g., the crackling of the campfire, the sound of the nearby creek, the patter of raindrops).
However, a character who makes this listen check won't necessarily know what's happened. She may think she's gone deaf; she may think that her sleeping companion has turned over in his sleep and stopped snoring. I might require an intelligence check for the character to become alarmed, or to deduce that there's probably an enemy nearby creating the silence. An animal who suddenly stops hearing noise isn't going to be as suspicious about it as an evil lich lord who stops hearing noise.
I'd give a sleeping character a -10 penalty, for no good reason except that that sounds right to me.
Daniel
Sejs
First Post
If you're awake, and the area of a Silence spell overlaps you I'm pretty sure there's no way you can miss it - even if there's noone talking around you, there's still a whole bunch of environmental sounds that suddenly disappear.
Taking example from where I'm sitting right now at my computer desk - if a silence spell were dropped in this room, I wouldn't be able to hear my breath thru my nose, the soft hum of the computer fan, the gentle breeze outside rustling the grass and trees slightly, birds chirping far far off in the distance, some guy mowing his lawn the next block or so over, etc. It would immediatly click that something isn't right - even if you have earplugs in you can hear something. Even if it were at night where none of the normal days activities were taking place, you'd still have the sounds of your own body just go away - sound your clothes make when you shift your weight, the rubbing sound when you get a peice of grit out of your eye, and whatnot.
If you're awake, I'd put the listen check to notice a silence spell that is affecting you at DC 0.
If your in the open, and there's a silence area somewhere that's kinda nearby but doesn't include the area you're in I'd put the listen DC at something like 20, maybe 25 or higher. Unless it's something real obvious -the creaking of a mill just stops totally dead, for instance- it would be a pain to notice a hole in environmental sound. If the silence area is affecting something significant (mill, example) I'd put the DC at 12 plus distance modifier (+1/10ft away).
If you're asleep, well.. you're asleep - you shouldn't be able to notice a silence spell that doesn't directly overlap you at all. If the silence goes over you yourself while asleep that's a bit different - certain very subtile cues that you're accustomed to while sleeping arn't there for some reason, which could have your body telling you "Hey! Wake up, something's not right!", but not necessarily. Some folks would wake up if the sound of their computer fan went dead, me personally I'd be out like a light - it normally takes something about as loud as music being played on the radio in the next room, or the garbage truck taking the trash, or the shower being run to wake me up. Heh, lack of sound would probably make me sleep more soundly. At a guess, I'd put the listen DC for noticing silence while asleep at 19 + 1d6 (to represent some people sleeping more soundly then others), possibly maybe even as high as 24 + 1d6.
Taking example from where I'm sitting right now at my computer desk - if a silence spell were dropped in this room, I wouldn't be able to hear my breath thru my nose, the soft hum of the computer fan, the gentle breeze outside rustling the grass and trees slightly, birds chirping far far off in the distance, some guy mowing his lawn the next block or so over, etc. It would immediatly click that something isn't right - even if you have earplugs in you can hear something. Even if it were at night where none of the normal days activities were taking place, you'd still have the sounds of your own body just go away - sound your clothes make when you shift your weight, the rubbing sound when you get a peice of grit out of your eye, and whatnot.
If you're awake, I'd put the listen check to notice a silence spell that is affecting you at DC 0.
If your in the open, and there's a silence area somewhere that's kinda nearby but doesn't include the area you're in I'd put the listen DC at something like 20, maybe 25 or higher. Unless it's something real obvious -the creaking of a mill just stops totally dead, for instance- it would be a pain to notice a hole in environmental sound. If the silence area is affecting something significant (mill, example) I'd put the DC at 12 plus distance modifier (+1/10ft away).
If you're asleep, well.. you're asleep - you shouldn't be able to notice a silence spell that doesn't directly overlap you at all. If the silence goes over you yourself while asleep that's a bit different - certain very subtile cues that you're accustomed to while sleeping arn't there for some reason, which could have your body telling you "Hey! Wake up, something's not right!", but not necessarily. Some folks would wake up if the sound of their computer fan went dead, me personally I'd be out like a light - it normally takes something about as loud as music being played on the radio in the next room, or the garbage truck taking the trash, or the shower being run to wake me up. Heh, lack of sound would probably make me sleep more soundly. At a guess, I'd put the listen DC for noticing silence while asleep at 19 + 1d6 (to represent some people sleeping more soundly then others), possibly maybe even as high as 24 + 1d6.
Last edited:
Dingleberry
First Post
"It's quiet. Too quiet."
C'mon, somebody had to say it!
C'mon, somebody had to say it!
I'm very glad i found this thread, next session in my game i'm going to send a pair of Silenced Invisible Stalkers after my party. They're going to be at an Inn in a busy town, so i was wondering what kind of DC i should set for the sentry.
Now, the interesting question i'm going to have is how am i going to ask the party what their usual routine is without tripping them off that something's going to be up.
Now, the interesting question i'm going to have is how am i going to ask the party what their usual routine is without tripping them off that something's going to be up.
Norfleet
First Post
The DC for the noticing the silence is roughly equivalent to the DC for detecting the noise that the silence suppresses, plus a modifier if the noise is highly expected to be there, such as a computer fan and HDDs suddenly going silent. Of course, if the listener could not hear the sound before, then the sound isn't going missing, and therefore, the listener has no reason to suspect anything is wrong on those grounds.
For example, hearing loud voices in a tavern has probably a DC of -5. If the tavern is suddenly silenced, noticing this should therefore similarly be DC -5.
Hearing a first-level thief moving silently has a DC of about 15. If the listener did not previously hear the thief, then he has no reason to suspect anything is wrong, and does not notice the silence because of this. If, on the other hand, the listener heard the thief and was listening to him at the time the silence occurred, it should similarly be DC 15 to notice the now totally silent thief.
Hearing a computer fan probably has a DC of about 5-10, depending on the noisiness of the fan. The uninitiated would therefore be only moderately likely to note the lack of fan, but somebody who expects the fan to be there and would instinctively interpret the lack of a fan as an emergency situation would have a heavy circumstance modifier to notice the missing fan.
In short, the harder it is to notice the sound in the first place, the harder it should be to notice that it is now missing. The more accustomed the listener is to hearing the sound, the more likely he is to notice the sound is missing.
For example, hearing loud voices in a tavern has probably a DC of -5. If the tavern is suddenly silenced, noticing this should therefore similarly be DC -5.
Hearing a first-level thief moving silently has a DC of about 15. If the listener did not previously hear the thief, then he has no reason to suspect anything is wrong, and does not notice the silence because of this. If, on the other hand, the listener heard the thief and was listening to him at the time the silence occurred, it should similarly be DC 15 to notice the now totally silent thief.
Hearing a computer fan probably has a DC of about 5-10, depending on the noisiness of the fan. The uninitiated would therefore be only moderately likely to note the lack of fan, but somebody who expects the fan to be there and would instinctively interpret the lack of a fan as an emergency situation would have a heavy circumstance modifier to notice the missing fan.
In short, the harder it is to notice the sound in the first place, the harder it should be to notice that it is now missing. The more accustomed the listener is to hearing the sound, the more likely he is to notice the sound is missing.
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